United States visa from India

B1/B2, F-1, H-1B and beyond. Full-spectrum support for the US visa process, DS-160 review, document prep tuned to your profile, mock interview rehearsal with seasoned consular-prep coaches, and appointment booking.

Quick answers

Do Indian citizens need a visa for the US?

Yes. Indian citizens need a US visa for any visit. For tourism or business that is the B1/B2 visitor visa, applied with the DS-160 form and, in most cases, an in-person interview at a US consulate in India.

How much does a US visa cost from India in 2026?

The government fee is $185 (about ₹18,100), paid to US embassy (MRV fee). The Travlys service fee is from ₹19,940, so plan for roughly ₹38,040 in total.

How long does a US visa take from India?

7.5-12 months (interview wait). Validity: Up to 10 years. Stay: Up to 6 months / visit.

Checked against official sources on 2026-10-25. All countries: visa fees table.

Travlys is a private visa consultancy, not affiliated with any embassy, consulate, VFS Global or government. Government and VFS fees are paid separately.

United States visa at a glance

Visa type: Embassy Visa
Processing time: 7.5-12 months (interview wait)
Validity: Up to 10 years
Stay per visit: Up to 6 months / visit
Entries: Multiple
Travlys service fee: From ₹19,940 (embassy / VFS fees paid separately)

About the US visa for Indian travelers

Indian passport holders need a valid US visa for any visit, tourism, business, study, employment or transit. The process is managed by the US Department of State, runs through the DS-160 online form, and includes an in-person interview at a US embassy or consulate in India. Travlys handles preparation end-to-end so you walk into the interview confident.

United States visa categories

B-1 / B-2 Visitor

Tourism, business meetings, medical. For short trips covering sightseeing, conferences, negotiations or medical treatment.

F-1 Student

Full-time study. For students admitted to accredited US universities with a valid I-20 form. All social media accounts must be set to public before the interview.

H-1B Specialty Worker

Skilled employment. For roles requiring at least a bachelor’s degree, sponsored by a US employer with an approved petition. H-1B and H-4 applicants must set all social media accounts to public.

L-1 Intracompany Transfer

Internal company move. For managers, executives or specialized employees moving to a US office of a multinational.

What Travlys does for your United States visa

DS-160 form review and submission
Profile-tailored document checklist
Two mock-interview sessions
VAC and embassy appointment booking
WhatsApp support until visa decision

Documents you need

Passport with 6+ months validity beyond intended stay
DS-160 confirmation page with barcode
MRV fee receipt
Recent 5×5 cm photograph meeting US specs
Appointment confirmation (VAC + embassy)
Bank statements (last 6 months) and ITR (last 2 years)
Employment letter, leave approval and salary slips

How to apply for a United States visa from India

Profile review, we map your travel purpose, history and financial story to the right visa category.
DS-160 walkthrough, we prepare your form and review every answer before submission.
Document set, a tailored checklist with templates for cover letter, itinerary and financials.
Appointment booking, VAC biometrics and embassy interview slots locked at the earliest dates.
Mock interview, two practice rounds with real consular questions and answer coaching.
Day-of support, a quick call before you walk in, plus passport return tracking after.

The full United States visa guide

Updated 2026-07-10. Reviewed by The Travlys US visa desk.

In short: The US visa from India is not a paper application, it is an evidence-based conversation with a consular officer. Cost is roughly ₹38,000-42,000 all-in (MRV fee $185, service fee, VAC, courier). Total time from brief to stamped passport is typically 7.5-12 months for a first-time B1/B2 applicant, most of it interview-wait. DS-160 accuracy and interview coaching decide the outcome more than any single document.

US visa from India in 2026: what actually decides the outcome

Every Indian applicant assumes the US visa is a document game. It is not. The consular officer at the US embassy or consulate has your DS-160 open on their screen and roughly 90 seconds to decide whether to approve you. The document folder in your hand almost never opens.

What decides the outcome is Section 214(b) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act, the presumption that every applicant is an intending immigrant unless they prove strong ties to India. Your job in that 90-second interview is to make that presumption fall away. That is the entire game.

Everything else, DS-160 answers, cover letter, financial statements, itinerary, is there to back up the story you will tell. If the interview story does not line up with the DS-160 answers you submitted three weeks ago, the visa is refused. So the preparation is not "collect documents", it is "build a consistent, credible narrative that the DS-160, the file and the interview all support".

How much does a US visa cost from India in 2026

The full cost has two independent parts: the US government fee (paid to the embassy in USD) and the service fee (paid to a consultant if you are using one). Both are separate from optional add-ons like courier, insurance and biometrics upgrades.

US government fees (paid directly to the embassy)

MRV (Machine Readable Visa) fee: $185 for B1/B2, F-1, M and most non-immigrant categories. About ₹18,100 at the current US consular exchange rate of ₹98 per dollar.
H, L, O, P, Q and R work visas: $205 MRV.
E treaty investor / trader visas: $315 MRV.
Reciprocity fee: applies to specific nationalities and categories; nil for most Indian applicants on B1/B2.
SEVIS I-901 (for F-1 students only): $350, paid to ICE, not the embassy.
H-1B / L-1 anti-fraud and border-security fees are paid by the US employer, not the applicant.

Travlys service fee for the US visa

Our flat service fee for a US B1/B2 visa from India starts at ₹19,940. That covers everything from DS-160 review through two mock interviews to embassy appointment booking. Student visas (F-1) and work visas (H-1B, L-1) carry different service fees because the paperwork depth is different, we quote those live once we have your I-20 or petition details.

Add-ons you might see billed separately

VFS courier delivery of your passport back home: ~₹500-800.
Photograph meeting the 5×5 cm US spec: ~₹200 at any VFS-approved studio.
Travel insurance (not required for the visa, but recommended for the trip): from ~₹1,500 depending on trip length.
Interview waiver (drop-box) courier: same ₹500-800 range if you qualify.

Realistic total: For a first-time B1/B2 applicant from India, budget ₹38,000-42,000 all-in. B1/B2 renewals that qualify for the interview waiver save on time but not much on cost. Keep another $250 per visa in reserve for the visa integrity fee: it is in US law, but as of October 2026 we could not confirm it is being collected in India.

DS-160 form: 8 mistakes that get Indian applicants refused

The DS-160 is a 100+ question online form and the source of most self-inflicted US visa refusals. The consular officer will read your DS-160 answers word-for-word during the interview and compare them with what you say in person. Discrepancies read as intent to deceive. Here are the eight most-common ways Indian applicants sabotage themselves.

1. Vague purpose of trip. "Vacation" or "meeting friends" reads as immigration intent. Name the state, the city, the number of nights, and what you will actually do there.
2. Zero travel history and no explanation for it. If your passport is blank, the officer needs a plausible reason (young applicant, first job, etc.) that lines up with your work history.
3. US-based contact chosen carelessly. The person you name as your US point of contact is a signal about your intent. Naming a distant cousin who "sponsors" your trip when you are actually staying at a hotel is a red flag.
4. Employer details that do not match your bank statements. If your DS-160 says you earn ₹15 lakh a year and your salary account shows ₹8 lakh in credits, the officer sees the gap.
5. Previous visa refusals hidden. Every US refusal, every Schengen refusal, every UK refusal, must be declared. The embassy has API access. Hiding one guarantees another refusal.
6. Family in the US listed as "no" when a cousin is on H-1B. Extended family in the US on work or student visas is not disqualifying. Hiding it is.
7. Inconsistent addresses over the last 5 years. If you moved cities for work, list every address; do not compress.
8. Wrong photo. The US spec is 5×5 cm, plain white background, taken in the last 6 months, no smile, no glasses. VFS rejects wrong photos on the biometrics day, and it delays your file by 2-3 weeks.

Travlys reviews the DS-160 answer-by-answer before submission and flags each of these against your real profile. It is the single most impactful part of what we do.

US visa interview: 12 questions Indian applicants actually get asked

The B1/B2 interview at the US embassy in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata or Hyderabad lasts 60-120 seconds. Consular officers are trained to ask short, high-signal questions in rapid succession. Here are the twelve most-frequent questions we see, in the order they usually come.

Why do you want to visit the United States? (Purpose of trip.)
How long will you stay?
Where will you stay, and who will you visit?
Have you been to the US before?
Which other countries have you traveled to?
What do you do for work, and how long have you been at your current employer?
How much do you earn?
Who is paying for the trip?
Are you married? Do you have children? What do they do?
Do you own property, and where?
Do you have relatives in the US?
What will make you come back to India?

That last question, "what will make you come back to India", is the officer directly testing the 214(b) presumption. The strongest answers reference specific, unbreakable ties: your job with a return-to-work date, a spouse or aging parent you support, a home loan in your name, a business you run, elderly parents who depend on you. Weak answers are "my family is here" or "I love India". Both are true, neither is evidence.

Our two mock interviews at Travlys drill these exact questions with your real answers, in the order they are asked, at the pace they are asked. We stop you when your answer is honest but self-defeating and rebuild the phrasing until it is honest and defensible.

US visa refused (214(b) or 221(g)): what it actually means and what to do next

A US visa refusal is not a lifetime ban. It is a decision on the file the officer read that morning. The two most-common refusal codes on the pink slip you walk out with are 214(b) and 221(g), and they mean very different things.

214(b): "you did not overcome the immigrant-intent presumption"

This is the most-common refusal. It means the officer was not convinced you would return to India. You can re-apply immediately, there is no waiting period, but re-applying with the same file gets the same result. Something material has to change: a new job, a promotion, a marriage, a home purchase, a new travel history from a hard-to-get country. Or the file itself has to be rebuilt to surface ties that the previous application under-sold.

221(g): "administrative processing / missing documents"

221(g) means the officer needs more information before deciding. Sometimes it is a document you did not carry, sometimes it is a background check (common for H-1B applicants in specialised STEM fields, or applicants whose employer is on a watch-list). The pink slip lists what to send and where. Response windows are usually 60-365 days depending on the sub-code. Send exactly what is asked, nothing more, nothing less.

If you have been refused, send us the pink slip, we do a free assessment of whether re-application makes sense and what specifically needs to change first. Most of our re-application clients get approved on the second try because the second application is a different application, not the same one submitted twice.

US embassy vs consulate: which one handles your city

There is one US embassy in India (New Delhi) and four US consulates general (Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata). Which one interviews you is decided by the city and state on your DS-160, though for B1/B2 you can technically pick any post that has an open slot. Practical guidance:

New Delhi Embassy: covers Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Chandigarh, and Delhi NCR.
Mumbai Consulate: covers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
Chennai Consulate: covers Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep.
Hyderabad Consulate: covers Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Kolkata Consulate: covers West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sikkim, all seven NE states.

If your assigned post has a 6-month wait, we routinely book you at a different post with a shorter queue. That is legal for B1/B2 and adds a plane ticket to your cost but subtracts months from your timeline.

US visa processing time from India: current wait times

Wait times at US posts in India fluctuate dramatically. The State Department publishes them at travel.state.gov/visawait, but the numbers there lag reality by weeks. What we see in live cases as of mid-2026:

B1/B2 interview: roughly 6-12 months across the five posts in State Department figures for September-October 2026, with Hyderabad and Mumbai at the long end and Chennai and Kolkata shorter.
Interview waiver (drop-box), now mainly for B1/B2 renewals within 12 months of expiry: much faster, as there is no interview slot to wait for.
F-1 students: roughly 2 weeks to 2.5 months for an interview depending on the post (September 2026 figures); embassies prioritise student visas ahead of the academic year.
H-1B: a few weeks to a few months for an interview depending on the post, subject to 221(g) administrative processing. H-1B renewals also need an interview now.

With current waits, a first-time B1/B2 file usually takes many months from brief to stamped passport, most of it waiting for the interview. We check for earlier slots every 24 hours and book the first one that opens at a post in India where the applicant can legally apply, but no one can promise an early date.

Interview waiver (drop-box): who qualifies and how it works

The interview waiver, informally called "drop-box", lets qualifying repeat applicants skip the in-person interview and simply drop their passport at VFS. It is the fastest way to a US visa if you qualify, but since September 2025 it is limited mainly to B1/B2 renewals. As of October 2026 the rules for Indian applicants are:

You are renewing a full-validity B1, B2 or B1/B2 visa. F-1, H-1B, H-4 and other categories now need an interview.
The previous visa expired less than 12 months ago, and you were at least 18 when it was issued.
You have never been refused a US visa, unless that refusal was overcome or waived.
You have no ineligibility findings on your record.
You apply in your country of nationality or residence and are physically in India when applying from India.

Eligibility does not guarantee that the officer approves via drop-box, they can still ask you to appear for an interview. Check your eligibility before you book, because if you are called for an interview you join the regular interview queue.

US visa validity, duration of stay, and multiple entries

This is where every applicant gets confused. The US visa has three separate time-related fields, and they do not mean the same thing.

Visa validity (the sticker in your passport)

For Indian B1/B2 applicants, the visa is typically issued for 10 years, meaning you can use it to enter the US up to the expiry printed on the sticker. This is the longest validity the US grants any nationality.

Duration of stay (decided at the airport, not the embassy)

The visa lets you travel to a US port of entry. The Customs and Border Protection officer at that port decides how long you can stay, marked on your I-94 record. B1/B2 usually gets 6 months per entry; the officer can grant less if your itinerary suggests you need less, or more only in exceptional cases with prior approval.

Number of entries (multiple, in almost all cases)

B1/B2 visas issued to Indian nationals are almost always multiple-entry, meaning you can enter and exit the US as many times as you want within the 10-year validity. Some rarer categories (like C-1 transit) are single-entry.

Why hire Travlys instead of applying yourself

Applying for a US visa yourself is legal and free (the $185 MRV goes straight to the embassy). If you have a strong profile, an unshakeable travel history and an obvious return-to-India story, you should try. Most Indian applicants do not fit that description on their first US visa, and that is where we help.

What our fee actually buys you:

A DS-160 that has been reviewed by someone who has read thousands of these, cross-checked against your bank statements, employer letter and travel history for silent contradictions.
A cover letter and itinerary that presents your trip the way officers assess it, not the way travel-agent templates format it.
Two mock interviews with the exact question sequence Delhi / Mumbai / Chennai / Hyderabad / Kolkata are running this quarter, based on active case data.
Appointment hunting across all posts you are legally allowed to appear at, until we find the earliest slot.
A named specialist who stays on your file from brief to decision, so you do not re-explain your story to a ticket queue.
Post-interview support: if you get 221(g), we know exactly what to send and how to package it.

The candid math: our fee is ₹19,940. A US visa refusal costs you the $185 MRV plus your travel time to the post, and it makes the next application harder because "previous refusal" is now on your record. If our involvement moves your approval odds by 20 percentage points, the expected value is very much in your favour. If you already have a 95% profile, save the money and self-file, we will tell you so at the free consult.

Next step: Send us your passport bio page, current CV and travel history on WhatsApp (+91 82009 18967). We come back within one working day with a route, timeline, quote and honest read on your odds. No obligation to proceed.

United States visa FAQs

How long does it take to get a US visa from India?

B1/B2 interview waits at US posts in India were roughly 7.5-12 months in State Department figures from 21 October 2026, and they change often. Once your interview is done, B1/B2 stamping typically arrives within 1-2 weeks. We help you grab the earliest available slot.

What documents do I need for a US tourist visa?

Passport (6+ months validity), DS-160 confirmation, fee receipt, visa-spec photograph, appointment letter, financial statements covering the past 3-6 months, and proof of strong ties to India (employment, family, assets).

Do you guarantee a US visa approval?

No consultant honestly can, the consular officer decides. What we do guarantee is a complete, accurate application and thorough interview prep, which is the single biggest factor in approvals.

How much does Travlys charge for US visa assistance?

Our service starts at ₹19,940 for B1/B2, covering DS-160, documentation, mock interview and appointment booking. The US embassy fee (currently $185) is paid separately to the embassy.